Religious Minorities at Risk

2023/07/20 by Matthias Basedau, Jonathan Fox, Ariel Zellman · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Political Conflict and Governance #Religion and Society Interactions #Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

paper · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197693940.001.0001

openalex publication_date 2023/07/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Abstract Religious Minorities at Risk examines the conflict behavior of 771 religious minorities in 183 countries between 2000 and 2014. Using detailed data for each minority, we demonstrate that discrimination, deprivation, and inequality (DDI) cause minorities to form grievances which, in turn, influence their conflict behavior including protest, rioting, violence against civilians, and rebellion. However, the devil is in the details; there is considerable nuance in this conflict process. For example, each type of DDI influences only some types of grievances. Similarly, each type of grievance influences only some types of conflict behavior. In addition, other factors, such as group capacity and group political power, also influence this process. This complex conflict process demonstrates that while religion, in the form of religious discrimination and religious grievances, brings unique elements to conflicts involving religious minorities, it also shows that religious minorities behave like minorities. That is, their conflict pattern of DDI–grievances–conflict follows the same overall pattern as other types of minorities even as the religious elements of DDI and grievances provide unique nuances.

Citations

• Explaining religious terrorism: A data-mined analysis
• Ethnic Politics and Armed Conflict: A Configurational Analysis of a New Global Data Set
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• Boko Haram's Conquest for the Caliphate: How Al Qaeda Helped Islamic State Acquire Territory
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• Rebels with a Cause: Does Ideology Make Armed Conflicts Longer and Bloodier?

Discussions

• I worry about the treatment of minority groups by states and majority societies, so I wrote a book with Matthias Basedau and Jonathan Fox all about it - Religious Minorities at Risk, 2023, Oxford UP, [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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